


S is for Suicidal

by Jazzie



Series: A to Z of Danny Whump! [19]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 19:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11857731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jazzie/pseuds/Jazzie
Summary: Danny is picking Grace up from school, to enjoy a quiet evening at Steve's place.  The SEAL is away, Chin and Kono are on another island.  What could possibly go wrong?





	S is for Suicidal

**Author's Note:**

> There is mention of child abuse in this story, it's vague but it is there. If you think it might upset you, please don't read it.

It was a Friday afternoon and Danny Williams was just pulling up outside his daughter’s school. For once it was just him in the car, no Steve McGarrett, he was off on some Army training weekend.  
‘It’s NAVY Danny,’ he can almost hear his partner’s protest and he grins at the thought.  
Chin and Kono are still over on The Big Island after chasing down a lead on their latest case. They’re due to return late that evening. That means Danny has a good chance of spending a whole evening with his little girl without being interrupted by well-meaning ohana or not so well meaning criminals. The Governor isn’t likely to call him when he’s the only available member of 5-0, unless it’s the biggest shit storm Hawaii has ever seen and if that were the case, Super SEAL would be hauled off his weekend of rolling in the mud and playing Action Man or GI Joe quicker than he could pull a pin on the grenade that he no doubt has in one of his cargo pants pockets!  
Danny gets out of the Camaro, which he is happy to be driving for once, and stretches. It’s been a long week and Steve has still not relented on his position in regards to Danny moving back in to his own apartment. That does mean though that he and Grace get to spend a weekend at the beach house without Steve. Danny is sure that the cousins will appear at some point but that’s alright, because he still has this evening.  
His ruminations are rudely cut off by several shouts, Danny looks in the direction of several parents also waiting for their children to come running out to start their weekend. They’re all pointing up at the roof of the building, he looked up and could see someone was up there and it wasn’t an adult. Danny moved towards the group so he could see what was happening, as he approached he recognised one of the teachers, Ms Kali; he pulled her to one side.  
“Ms Kali, what’s going on?”  
“Oh, Detective Williams, one of the older girls has gone up on the roof and we can’t get her to come down! She’s threatening to jump!”  
“What?! How do I get up there? What’s her name? How old is she?”  
“I’ll show you where you can go up, her name is Lani Amoy. She’s fourteen.”  
“Have you called 911? What can you tell me about her?”  
“Yes, we have. She’s a quiet child, likes to keep to herself. Her parents are divorced. Father, Luka, is a Marine. Mother, Jemma, remarried a local businessman, Mano Victor. I haven’t seen much of either of them since Lani started here two years ago.”  
Danny thought how familiar some of that sounded but he kept that to himself as they approached the stairs that would lead him to the roof.  
“Can you please explain to Grace that I need to help another girl and keep an eye on her for me?”  
“Absolutely Detective Williams, is there anyone you want me to call to come and get her?”  
“She has the number of a friend, Kamekona, if she calls him he’ll make sure someone is here for her,” after all he couldn’t contact any of 5-0, Rachel and Stan were off on yet another long weekend away, so it was just him. Kamekona may walk the fine line between cops and criminals but he was essentially a good man and Grace had spent plenty of time with him.  
“I’ll go and find Grace straight away.”  
“Thanks,” Danny nodded and ran off up the stairs. A fourteen year old on the roof of their school building could not mean anything good. He could have waited for other emergency personnel to arrive but he’s already on site and if she’s planning to jump, then she might just do it in the time it takes them to reach the school. This is one of those few situations where going in without back up is a necessity if it’s not immediately available.  
Carefully and quietly opening the door at the top of the stairs for the roof, Danny steps through and slowly walks around the roof until he can see Lani perched on the apex. He doesn’t want to startle her, because that could cause her to slip, but he does need to let her know he’s there.  
Slowly edging his way up towards the apex, when he reaches it he sits down near her but not so close that she’ll freak out or think he’s trying to grab her, even if that is what he wants to do. Lani looks up and sees him as his feet scuff the roof when he sits.  
“Leave me alone!” the eyes looking at Danny are a pale green, which are strangely at odds with her tanned skin and dark hair, which has been pulled back in a neat shoulder length ponytail. Those eyes are full of fear but also determination, they also look like they should belong to someone much older than fourteen.   
Danny wishes he didn’t need to know what caused her to have eyes older than her years or what has put the fear in them, but if he’s going to get her down off this roof and somewhere safe, he has to find out. If it’s hard for him, it will be even harder for her.  
“Lani, my name is Danny, I’m a police officer.”  
“I don’t care, leave me alone!”  
“I can’t do that Lani.”  
“Why?” the question is plaintive.  
“Because I can see that you’re hurting and I want to help,” Danny’s hands automatically raise from where their resting either side of him as if imploring her to let him.  
“What do you care?”  
“I have a little girl; she’s nine and goes to this school too. I would like to think that if she was hurting and I wasn’t here to help her that someone else would. That means when I’m in a position to try to help another little girl I will do my best to do it.”  
“I don’t want your help!” her voice is hoarse, she’s clearly been crying.  
“Lani, I think you do want my help, or at least someone’s,” Danny keeps his voice soft, calm, even, “I believe this is your way of asking for someone to listen to you. I’m here to listen, if you’ll let me.”  
“You’re a stranger, you don’t even know me. Plus I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”  
“I know, I tell Grace, that’s my daughter, the same thing, but I also tell her it’s alright to talk to a police officer,” he takes his badge off his belt to show to her, grateful that he didn’t take it off and lock it in the car with his gun in the special safe that’s fitted in the trunk, “It’s also easier, sometimes, to talk to a stranger. I have no agenda other than wanting you to feel safe enough to come back down with me.”  
“It would take too long to tell you.”  
“Lani, I’ve got all the time in the world.”  
“What about Grace?”  
Danny almost smiled, at least that told him she’d been listening to him, “Ms Kali is going to make sure she’s alright and a friend will come and get her if necessary. I’m more worried about you right now.”  
“Why? Why would you worry about a teenager you don’t know over your own daughter?”  
“Grace has had to deal with a lot in her nine years. It’s a long story, but I’ll share some of it with you if you’d like me to.”  
Lani shrugs, giving all the appearance of indifference, but there’s a spark of interest showing in those pale green eyes, “Whatever. I’m not going anywhere.”  
“I’m originally from New Jersey; you know where that is right?”  
He gets a stereotypical ‘duh’ look from Lani and it kind of reminds him of Steve and of what he has to look forward to from Grace when he’s no longer the cool all-knowing Danno.  
“Yeah, right, silly me,” Danny smiles, “I met Grace’s Mom and we fell in love, then Grace was born and I fell in love with her too. My job, being a cop, it’s hard on families and Grace’s Mom couldn’t be with me when my job takes so much of my time.”  
“You divorced,” it wasn’t a question.  
“Yes, we did, but I never, for one second, stopped loving Grace. In time Grace’s Mom met another man and remarried. His business brought him to Hawaii, which meant my ex-wife and daughter came here too. I got a job working for Honolulu PD and moved my life here, away from my family but to be close to my little girl, the most precious thing in my life.”  
“What does that have to do with you worrying about me rather than her?”  
“Grace has always known that she is number one on my priority list. She also knows that my job, helping people, keeping Hawaii safe for her and other children, is also very important to me and that there are times where that will impact our time together. This is one of those times. Grace is a smart girl; she knows I love her, no matter what I’m doing or where I am.”  
“You proved it to her by following her here,” Lani points out perceptively.  
“Maybe, but I also tell her every time I speak to her. I also know that there will come a time when sleepovers with friends will take over my weekends with her and she won’t want to spend as much time with me but that won’t mean she no longer loves or needs me, just that she’s growing up.” This is a conversation Danny has had with himself on numerous occasions. The reasons for the internal pep talk vary but the content is pretty much the same. Sleep overs, boyfriends, college, it doesn’t matter where Grace is, she knows he loves her and he knows that she loves him.  
“You’re both very lucky. Don’t ever lose that,” she sighs and her words are too old, too grown up to be coming out of her mouth. Surely at fourteen it should be all about boys, Danny shudders at this thought, clothes and make up.  
“I am lucky. It was hard leaving my brother, sisters and parents behind, I have a huge family, but Grace is worth it.”  
“I miss my Dad,” the words are filled with a heart wrenching sadness.  
“Ms Kali tells me he’s a Marine?” he receives a nod, “That must be so hard. I mean what he’s doing is so worthwhile, but so often our service men and women leave their family behind to wait.”  
“I haven’t seen him for nearly six months. He’s in Afghanistan.”  
“My work partner,” and Danny always puts the word work in now when he says partner, to avoid people getting the wrong idea about him and Steve, “He was a Navy SEAL until the Governor asked him to lead a task force and he entered the reserves. I listen to stories, the ones he can tell me that aren’t classified, and I hope that he never gets recalled, he’s like my brother now and as annoying as he is I can’t see my life without him.”  
“It’s all I’ve ever known. When my parents were still together it was easier, at least when he was back home he was with us. Now when he comes home I only get a couple of weekends a month.”  
“Lani, I can guarantee you that it’s as hard for him as it is for you, just in a different way.”  
Noises from behind them make Lani start, Danny has known for a while that there have been other people on the roof with them but they were clearly content to let him carry on with talking to the girl. Unfortunately someone made a noise and now Lani is tense again, Danny is worried that all the hard work may now have been undone. “It’s alright Lani; they just want to make sure that we’re alright. If I go and talk to them, ask them to move back, will that help?”  
Lani nods her head seemingly unable to speak for the time being. Danny carefully gets up, careful not to slip on the tiles, and walks back towards the would be rescuers. There’s a fairly long argument, well Danny would like to call it more of a discussion, about whether Danny should continue to speak to the girl or not. He tells them that he is starting to earn her trust and since he’s been talking to her for a while now, putting someone new out there really isn’t a great idea. Someone in their wisdom tells Danny he isn’t qualified for the job. The detective is quite proud that he doesn’t just punch the guy out. In the end Danny wins when he threatens to call the Governor. It’s not a card he’s ever used before, but he has to admit it’s quite nice to have it to fall back on when nobody is listening. Of course if Steve was here he’d probably have just dangled the moron off the roof for insulting his partner, so he should just be glad the SEAL is safely out of the way. There is a part, and it’s only a small part mind you, that misses his gung-ho partner but Danny knows he can handle this with or without him however, there is nothing quite like the McGarrett thousand yard stare to settle people down.  
The other emergency personnel agree to back off as far as the door and not to come any closer unless Danny requests them to. Satisfied, at least for now, he returns to the much more important task of talking Lani down off this roof.  
Danny slides, less than gracefully, back into his original position, though he has actually managed to move a little closer without Lani realising.  
“I’m sorry Lani. They just wanted to help. Now where were we?”  
“Doesn’t matter.”  
“Of course it matters. If you’re upset enough to be sitting on the top of the roof of your school, then it matters a whole lot!”  
“You’re different.”  
“From?”  
“Other adults, parents, you don’t try to talk down to me, or tell me what I should do.”  
“It’s not my place to do that. I’m not your parent, if it was Grace that would be different.”  
“So what is it your place to do?”  
“To listen to you. Maybe make suggestions of how the problem can be resolved or suggest people that are qualified to help you. All I want, at the end of this, is for both of us to walk down from here together.”  
“I’m going to get into a lot of trouble for this.”  
“No, you won’t. Everyone will just be glad you’re alright.”  
Lani scoffed at that, “My Mother won’t even know and if she did she wouldn’t care. My step-father will be more worried about losing his free…” she stopped suddenly not wanting to go any further, “I’m more worried about what the school will do.”  
“I can speak to the school with you. They’ve got counsellors here that can help, I know they helped Grace. What were you going to say about your step-father?” alarm bells had rung loud and clear when she started to talk about him. There was a tone in her voice, fear, anger, maybe even defeat.  
“I can’t,” Lani whispers.  
“You can. Whatever is going on at home, you can tell me. I promise that I will help you.”  
Tear filled pale green eyes meet sincere pale blue ones, “I’m scared.”  
“Will you let me come and sit next to you?” Danny was a little unsure about asking her but he needed to try. An emotionally distraught person on a sloping roof was not good. He was also aware that if her step-father was doing what he thought he was she may not want a man near her. Receiving a nod of consent he manoeuvred down the roof apex until he was sitting next to her. He was surprised when she leaned into him. Slowly he raised his right arm and draped it gently over her shoulders, making sure that she didn’t feel held down, “Alright?”  
Sniffles and a damp patch forming on his dress shirt where she’d buried her face in his shoulder told him that she wasn’t. The father in him just wanted to sob for this woman / child and her pain, the detective in him wanted to take the people that had caused her this pain and lock them up. Actually he’d prefer to shoot them but since that wasn’t an option, he’d have to settle for locking them up, that was the father and detective warring within him.  
“My… my…” Lani was trying to get her words out through the tears.  
“It’s alright, take your time, I’m not going anywhere Lani,” he reassured her.  
“My step-father… he…,” a ragged breath is taken in an attempt to gain the strength to tell this man what needs to be told, “touches me. I don’t like it.”  
The last words are followed by another round of broken sobbing that has Danny’s own eyes filling with tears. He doesn’t even think, just acts automatically as a father would to comfort their child; he places both his arms around her, being careful not to unbalance them, draws her close and whispers nonsense in her ear to try to calm her down.  
“Have you told anyone else?” he asks once she’s calmer.  
“My Mother,” she practically spits the words out through her tears, “She didn’t believe me.”  
“I believe you and I’m going to help you. I swear,” and Danny would. Once he was sure she was safe, he was getting a warrant and going to arrest her so called parents. Then he would contact the Governor and ask him to pull some strings to get her father home.  
“She hit me,” now the flood gates had opened Lani was telling him everything. It was both a relief and a burden for both of them.  
“I won’t let her do that to you again. OK?” she nods her head and clings to him even harder. Danny can’t understand how anyone can hurt something as precious as a child, no matter what their age.  
“What happens now?” Lani was a little calmer but needed to know.  
“We’ll get up and walk downstairs. You’ll need to go to the hospital,” Danny watched her eyes go wide again, “Its routine in cases of this nature Lani,” he soothed.  
“Will you come with me?” the insecurity was there for anyone to see.  
“Yes, I will,” there was no hesitation, “I will need to check on Grace before we go, if that’s alright?”  
“Uh huh. You’ll stay with me?”  
“For as long as I can,” he assured her. There were aspects of what she was going to go through that a female officer would be better placed to help her with, but he’d cross that bridge when he got to it. His first priority was getting them off this roof, “Are you ready?”  
“OK,” her voice was wobbly but there was a hint of determination there too.  
Danny stood and braced his feet either side of the apex before reaching down and helping Lani to her feet. Once she was up she turned to face back towards the stairs she’d come up but somehow managed to lose her balance and she slipped, the next thing Danny knows her hand has been pulled out of his and she’s sliding towards the edge screaming.  
In a move that came with no thought and would have Steve giving him the longest lecture he’d probably ever give if he could have seen it, Danny slid himself down the slope in what he would say was a controlled manner.   
Just as Lani started to slide over the edge Danny reached out and managed to grab her left hand, bashing his right forearm hard into the guttering. The pain that shot up his arm made him want to let go but he pushed passed the instinct and reached his other hand down.  
“Lani, give me your other hand sweetheart!” Danny called out, hoping to god that one of the rescue personnel by the door had actually been paying attention, instead of sulking about seniority.  
“I can’t!”  
“Yes, you can. I can’t reach it unless you reach for my hand!”  
“No, I can’t!” she screamed when she made the grave error of looking down.  
“Don’t look down, look at me. Now, give me your hand.”  
“I can’t!”  
“LANI!” his raised voice got her full attention, “Give me. Your. Hand!” he waved his left hand in front of him, aware at this point that it was only by some miracle that he hadn’t slid all the way off. There was the smallest of ledges at the bottom of the slope that he was laying lengthwise along, both arms and his shoulders hanging over the edge, one wrong move and they’d both crash to the ground below.  
Taking a shuddering breath, Lani finally did as Danny had ordered and reached up with her right hand. Danny took a firm grip of it in his left and started to haul her up. Of course the gods weren’t done with him just yet and decided that he wasn’t near enough having a stroke or a heart attack, so the guttering that he was partially laying on gave way.  
In order to grab on to the edge of the roof as he fell and hopefully keep them from becoming strawberry jelly on the sidewalk below, Danny had to let go of one of Lani’s hands. There was no time to discuss it, so he automatically dropped her left one of course that meant he was hanging on to a building by his right hand while his left hand gripped Lani firmly. His right forearm was also the one he bashed on the building as he caught Lani originally, so holding their combined weight wasn’t making it any happier.  
There was great relief on Danny’s part when help arrived. In what seemed like no time there were two men, attached to harnesses, now why didn’t he think of that, coming over the roof edge. The first man took hold of Lani, though it was a struggle. A strange man grabbing hold of her out of the blue wasn’t what she needed emotionally but she sure needed it physically.  
“Lani! He’s helping you. You gotta let him; I can’t hold us both much longer.” Danny called down. The second man was in the process of securing a rope around him but if Lani kept struggling, Danny would lose the grip he had on her and the roof before he could finish tying the knots. Finally, allowing Danny’s words to break through the fog of fear, she allowed the man to secure her and then the pair were lowered down to the ground with their rescuers.  
Once on terra firma Danny would quite like to have kissed the ground, hell if Steve had been there he might even have kissed him, such was his relief. There was no time for that as Lani was shrieking and Danny had to intervene before things really got out of hand.  
“Hey!” he called to the medics that were trying to help, but would seem to Lani like they were pawing her, “Give her a minute!”  
“We need to assess both of you Sir,” the medic wasn’t one that Danny had seen before and seemed a little too cocky for his liking.  
“You can’t assess her if she’s screaming at you! Give me a chance to calm her down!”  
“Be my guest!” the medic shot back, a sneer on his face, clearly expecting that Danny wouldn’t be able to do it.  
Danny stood next to Lani and gently removed the rope that she was still attached to, returning it to their rescuers and thanking them profusely. The moment they were both free and Danny had turned back to her she threw herself at him and just hung on for dear life. The medic looked a little put out, Danny didn’t give a crap. His hands ran up and down the trembling back as he whispered words of reassurance. Looking around Danny spotted someone.  
“Ms Kali, can you come here please?” he called to the teacher.  
“Are you alright?” her eyes searched both the student and the detective.  
“A little shaken up but I think we’ll be just fine. Lani, can Ms Kali stay with you for a few minutes while I go and find Grace?”  
Warily she looked from him to the teacher before finally giving her consent. Ms Kali took his place, wrapping Lani in her arms protectively, shielding her from everyone.  
“Grace is over by your car with your friend,” she called over her shoulder.  
Waving in thanks, Danny hurried over to his little girl, “Grace!”  
“Danno!”   
A moment later he had both arms full of his nine year old daughter. He buried his face in her hair, just breathing in the scent of her soap and shampoo. “It’s alright Grace, everything is OK now.”  
“You saved her!”  
“You saw?”  
“Yup.”  
“Your Mom is gonna kill me!”  
“I thought you were really brave.”  
“Just doing my job Monkey, speaking of which…”  
“You need to go with her don’t you?” there was no accusation in Grace’s voice.  
“I do. She’s frightened and she needs an adult she can trust, right now that’s me,” Danny looked at Kamekona, “Can you take her over to McGarrett’s and keep an eye on her for me please? Chin and Kono aren’t due back for hours and Steve’s away for the weekend.”  
“Sure thing bruddah. Little haole and me will have lots of fun!”  
Danny suddenly wasn’t so sure about leaving his little girl and Steve’s home in the care of Kamekona. Looking at Grace she just grinned, “Keep an eye on him for me?” he asked her, pointing at the big man.  
Grace giggled, “Sure Danno.”  
“I’ll call when I know what’s going on alright? I love you Monkey.”  
“Love you too Danno.”  
“Thanks Shamu,” Danny said with a grin.  
“No problem Jersey,” the big man lumbered off to his jeep with Grace in his wake, while Danny returned to Lani.

 

-5-0-

 

“I swear to god, you try to touch her once more and I will knock your head off your shoulders!” Danny growled at the medic he’d had issues with at the scene. Every time the man went near Lani she’d cling to Danny like he was going to disappear.  
“I’m just trying to do my job, sir.” The last word was given an edge that wasn’t polite.  
“She’s terrified of you, leave her alone!” Danny wished he had his gun with him, because right about now he’d quite happily take a leaf out of McGarrett’s book of shoot first and ask questions later.  
“I need to check her vitals and assess her for injuries!”  
“Seriously man, come near her again and I will not be responsible for my actions!”  
The two men had been so busy arguing that neither noticed when the ambulance pulled up and the doors were swung open. The scene that met the doctor and nurse that had come out to meet the ambulance was nothing short of heading for a brawl.  
Danny had positioned himself so he was sitting between the patient and the medic; the medic was towering over him trying to get to the patient. As they watch Danny tucked the girl behind him and she clings to him like he is the only thing between her and certain death.  
“What the hell is going on here?!” demands the doctor, again one that Danny has never seen.  
“Your medic wants to touch a patient that doesn’t want to be touched! I’m just enlightening him as to the error of his ways!”  
“Mr…?”  
“Detective Danny Williams, 5-0,” he introduces himself when prompted.  
“I’m Doctor Vine. My medic is just trying to do his job!”  
“She is terrified of strange men and you want me to let him touch her? I don’t think so!”  
Sighing, Doctor Vine waves the medic out of the back of the ambulance. The insolent young man rolls his eyes and the doctor makes note to speak to him about how to treat traumatised patients, “Alright, well can we get this young lady inside please.”  
“Her name is Lani Amoy, she’s fourteen and, no offence doctor, but I’d prefer someone I know dealing with her.”  
“Actually, Detective, I am perfectly capable of dealing with Miss Amoy,” Doctor Vine is starting to see why the medic had such issues, it wasn’t the patient in his view, but the Detective, “Now step out of the ambulance so that I can see to my patient.”  
Danny gives a shrug that says ‘your funeral’ and steps out of the ambulance. Lani is attached to him like glue and refuses to release his shirt. He wraps his arms around her protectively.  
Doctor Vine isn’t a bad doctor but he’s got a lot of patients in his ER that need his help and he needs to get Lani settled and assessed so he can provide her with the right care. In trying to do this he’s a little too brusque with her.  
“Right, come on. We’re not going to hurt you here,” he tries to hold her arm to usher her into the ER and is rewarded by a shrill shriek. The doctor and the nurse recoil back.  
Danny is on his last nerve; in fact it’s the very end of his last nerve, “That’s it! If Doctor Jensen is in this building today I want to see him. NOW!” he knows he’s being unreasonable but every single one of the medical people Lani has come into contact with so far has frightened her, unintentionally maybe, but they’ve done it none the less. He thinks he can get her to speak to Doctor Jensen because he can vouch for him.  
Doctor Vine blusters and tries to tell Danny that it’s not necessary but the detective isn’t having any of it. His priority is Lani, not people’s egos. He’ll apologise later, once he has Lani settled.  
“Fine,” Doctor Vine turns and goes inside to speak to the receptionist at the desk. Danny just hopes Doctor Jensen is in the building, “He’s in and being paged.”  
“Thank you,” Danny tries to convey his gratitude but having just practically shouted at the poor man, he doesn’t think he manages very well, “Lani, I’ve asked for a doctor that I know to come and see you. His name is Doctor Jensen and I think you’ll like him, alright?”  
“You’ll stay with me?”  
“Of course, I said I would,” the trust in those eyes would melt glaciers.  
“OK then.”  
Danny stands with his arms wrapped protectively around Lani. He watches the familiar face of Doctor Jensen approach.  
“Danny?”   
“Doctor Jensen, this is a friend of mine, Lani Amoy, I was wondering if you could help us?”  
“Well I’m not a paediatrician but I’ll do what I can,” there’s something in Danny’s eyes he’s never seen before but he imagines that if someone had hurt his daughter, this is what he would look like, “Why don’t we go to one of the cubicles so we can have some privacy?”  
Danny looks at Lani and is relieved when she nods. They follow the doctor and, after speaking to the admitting desk, he finds a room free that’s at the far end of the ER, away from the general hubbub.  
“Lani, is it alright if I call you that?” Doctor Jensen asks politely, he receives a nod, “Thank you. Why don’t you go and take a seat on the bed, Danny and I will be just outside here if you need us, OK?”  
“OK,” she reluctantly pulls away from Danny and shuffles over to the bed.  
Once they’re a safe distance away Doctor Jensen turns to the man he now considers a friend, as well as a patient, “What’s going on? The word around the hospital is that you disrespected a paramedic and a doctor!”  
“The medic wouldn’t stop touching Lani after I asked him not to, he could see she was scared of him but did nothing to try to reassure her. I shouldn’t have lost my temper with Doctor Vine and I’ll find him to apologise later, but it’s been a helluva afternoon.”  
“Tell me,” Doctor Jensen motioned to a couple of chairs against the wall. The two men sat and Danny filled him in, “Poor thing, an abusive step-father and mother, her father in Afghanistan. I can see why she’d latch on to you.”  
“I need to be able to leave her in the care of people I trust while I go and get a warrant to nail the people that are supposed to look after her. I trust you Doctor Jensen. Is Eve in today as well?”  
“Yes, she is.”  
“I trust her too, any chance…”  
“I’ll request her. It’s nearing the end of her shift but I’m sure she’ll stay on for a little while.”  
“Thanks Doctor Jensen.”  
“Danny it really is time you call me Henry!”  
“There just seems something so inherently wrong about calling a doctor working in a hospital by his first name when you’re his patient!”  
“That’s probably because most patients that come in for ER treatment don’t come in as often as you!” chuckled the doctor. “Come on, let’s go back to Lani.”  
“OK… Henry,” Danny replies, trying it on for size, “Nope, it’s gonna take some getting used to!”  
The doctor chuckles as he enters the room first. He spoke to Lani softly with Danny watching. By the time he was finished with as much of the exam as he could do at the moment Lani was much calmer. Doctor Jensen had discussed with Lani the need for a special examination and that there would be a special female nurse to do that with her. Danny told her that he had arranged for a very nice female HPD officer to come and sit with her. There was a little alarm at that but once Danny explained he needed to go to the station and help take her mother and step-father somewhere so they couldn’t hurt her again, she calmed down.  
“I like Doctor Jensen,” she said softly to Danny as they waited for the female officer to arrive.  
“Don’t tell him, but so do I!” Danny grinned at her.  
“He said you get into a lot of trouble.”  
“Well, he’s not wrong about that, I’m kind of accident prone,” he used the vaguest explanation he could think of, not wanting to go into detail.  
There was a knock at the door and a female officer Danny knew stuck her head round, “Hey Danny, I understand there’s a young lady here that needs my help?”  
“Hi Ani, yes, this is Lani Amoy, did Doctor Jensen fill you in?”  
“Yes, he did,” she smiled at the girl on the bed.  
“Lani, this is Officer Ani Kale, she’s a friend of mine,” that was probably stretching it a little bit but Lani needed reassurance.  
“Hello Lani, you can call me Ani, otherwise it’s a bit of a mouthful!” Ani approached the bed and slowly held her hand out for the frightened girl to take.  
Looking at Danny and getting a nod, Lani reached out and took Ani’s hand, “Hello Ani,” she gave the woman a tentative smile.  
“Danny, Kai is waiting for you outside,” she nodded her head to the corridor.  
“Alright, thanks Ani. I need to go now Lani, but I’ll be back later to see how you’re doing. Ani will stay with you but if you need anything she has my cell number, OK?”  
“OK.”  
Danny leaned forward and gave her a gentle one armed hug before squeezing Ani’s arm in thanks and leaving to find Officer Kai Kealoha.

 

-5-0-

 

“Danny,” Kai called him over.  
“Hi Kai. How you doing?”  
“I’m good thanks, you?”  
“I’ll be better when we get these people locked up where they belong! Do you have the warrants?”  
“Right here,” Kai tapped the pocket they were in.  
“Let’s go,” Danny strode with him out of the hospital to the patrol car. Reaching for the door with his right hand he knocked it and hissed.  
“Danny? You alright?”  
“Yeah, just bruised my arm when I grabbed Lani,” he explained.  
“Did you get it looked at?”  
“It’s a bruise Kai!”  
“Uh huh. Maybe you should get it checked before we leave.”  
“Are you in league with Doctor Jensen? I’ve got to come back later to check on Lani anyway, so if it’s bothering me I’ll see someone then. Good enough?”  
“Fine,” the officer shrugged knowing he shouldn’t bother arguing and wishing that Steve, Kono or Chin was there to force him to get checked out.  
The ride to the Victor’s house was silent. Danny was trying to make sure things were done by the book. He knew who Mano Victor was and he had money. The detective aimed to make sure that money wasn’t going to get him out of this situation or his wife for that matter.  
When they arrived outside the Victor mansion the gates were closed and nobody could be seen.  
“Should I radio for back up?”  
Desperately wanting to get in there but very aware of the lectures he had made Steve sit through on numerous occasions, he nodded his head. They had a warrant and if the Victors were home the more officers the better. The house was large and they had a warrant to cover searching the house for further evidence of abuse and neglect. Danny personally wanted someone to get their hands on the computers.  
While Kai organised a couple of units for back up, Danny called the Governor and provided an update. He was as incensed as Danny at the treatment of Lani. He had promised his detective that he would find out what unit Luka Amoy was with and track him down. Then he would attempt to cut through the red tape and bring him home, his daughter needed him.  
The two other units arrived, each with two officers. Danny explained that they were going to request access through the intercom, no Super SEAL with a grenade to just bust the damn gates open after all, and if there was a failure to comply they would open the gates by force.  
Danny pressed the bell on the intercom and when it was answered he introduced himself. The gates swung open immediately, of course Danny had omitted to tell them he had a warrant, he’d merely told them it was in relation to Lani.  
As the three cars pulled into the driveway and the six officers, including Danny, exited the vehicles, the detective instructed two officers round each side of the house while he and Kai continued up to the front door, which opened and Danny could only assume the woman before him was Jemma Victor. She was too well dressed to be a maid or housekeeper. He was surprised since he could see very little resemblance between her and Lani.  
“Detective Williams, how can I help you?”  
Danny stepped forward, “Officer Kealoha,” he indicated the man next to him, “and I would like to speak to you about your daughter.”  
“She’s not home from school yet, in fact she’s late.”  
“Does it not worry you that your daughter isn’t home yet?”  
“No. Lani does her own thing.”  
A gentle hand on his arm from Kai kept Danny from jumping through the door and strangling the woman before him, “Is your husband home?”  
There was a moment’s hesitation before she answered, “No, he’s at a meeting.”  
“Well you won’t mind us coming in and looking around will you?”  
“Why? I think you should wait until Mano comes home,” her voice had become a little high pitched and grated on Danny’s now non-existent nerves.  
“Mrs Victor, I have a warrant here to arrest you and your husband, as well as search your premises,” his patience was gone, “you can either co-operate or I will have you dragged out of here in handcuffs kicking and screaming, your choice!” He gave a nonchalant shrug. Personally he quite liked the kicking and screaming option.  
“This is outrageous! Arrest us on what charges?”  
“Officer Kealoha will be delighted to inform you of that as he reads you your rights,” Danny stepped out of the way, allowing Kai to reach forward and pull the woman across the threshold with what might have been a smile of satisfaction. Danny watched as Kai arrested her and placed her in the back of the patrol unit and then re-joined his temporary partner.  
They both crossed into the large ornate entrance hall. Danny was disgusted, even his new apartment would fit in it three times over. It was so often the bad parents that had the money, admittedly not all the time. Rachel wasn’t a bad parent, he would admit that on pain of death out loud but she would never treat their daughter the way Jemma Victor had treated Lani, in fact he was sure that Stan wouldn’t even treat Grace that way.   
Kai radioed in to state they had one in custody and were still searching the premises for Mr Victor when a ruckus from out the back caused both men to run out the front and round, it was quicker considering they didn’t know the way through the house.  
When they rounded the corner they found the other four officers struggling with two men on the back lawn.  
“What’s going on?” demanded Danny.  
“We were checking round the sides and back as you instructed when these two ran separate ways across the lawn,” one of the officers replied, “We called out but they resisted.”  
“Get them up!”  
Once both men were standing he could see neither was Mano Victor, “Where’s your boss?” The only response Danny got was a smirk, “Arrest them for obstruction,” he shouted over his shoulder as he took off back towards the house, Kai on his heels.  
Back in the front drive they spotted a man just exiting the house and Danny knew immediately this was who they were looking for. Coward had his employees covering for him while he made his getaway, “Mano Victor, 5-0, freeze!” Danny took great delight in pulling his weapon.  
“Excuse me?” Mano pretended to be surprised.  
“Kai, check him for weapons,” Danny instructed still covering his partner.  
The young officer did as requested and shook his head when he was finished, much to Danny’s disappointment, he would have liked to add a weapons charge. Holstering his weapon Danny approached him as Kai stood to the side.  
“Mano Victor, you are under arrest for child abuse, child neglect and anything else I can add to the list once we’ve searched your house,” Danny peered up at the man who stood at least a foot taller and was as broad, he didn’t flinch as the man growled at him, “You have the right to remain silent…”  
Danny was cut off from reading Victor his Miranda rights by the man launching at him. He grabbed the detective’s right forearm with both hands and swung him by it to knock him off balance. Danny felt something give and white hot pain shot up his arm, but he wasn’t about to let this oversized paedophile get away. Danny pulled back his left fist and smashed it, full force, into the man’s nose. He cried out in pain and dropped to his knees, blood pouring from his now mangled nose.  
“Kai, read him his rights and get him out of my sight!” growled Danny. He watched Kai do as requested and cradled his right arm against his body. Pulling back his button down shirt sleeve, he cringed. If there wasn’t something wrong with it before, there was now!  
Shaking his head, Kai called in for further officers advising that they now had four prisoners in custody and he would need to take Detective Williams to the ER.  
Danny looked up at this and was about to argue but Kai beat him to it, “You go to the ER in my unit or in an ambulance, I don’t care how but you’re going and if you still refuse then I will call the Governor!”  
The rest of 5-0 would have doubled over laughing at the look on Danny’s face at being spoken to so forcefully by the young officer. Clearly he had been spending too much time around 5-0 recently.  
“Fine, once the other units arrive and the scene is secure.”  
Kai nodded his agreement and while they waited he pulled the first aid kit out of the back of his patrol car and put together a sling to support Danny’s damaged forearm.

 

-5-0-

 

“I just want to check in on Lani first,” Danny told Kai as they entered the ER again.  
“Five minutes then I’m calling Doctor Jensen, the Governor and Steve.”  
“Good luck with the last one!” quipped Danny before heading to where he last saw Lani.  
“That’s it,” grumbled Kai. Not taking any chances with Danny’s health, he called the Governor anyway. He promised to get on the phone right away to ensure that Danny received prompt treatment. Ah, Danny was gonna be so mad at him, but it really was for his own good. He was Danny’s temporary partner and he couldn’t begin to imagine the tongue lashing he’d take if he didn’t ensure he was looked after.   
Danny knocked on the door to the small cubicle and waited. Ani opened it and peered out at him, her eyes wide when she saw the sling.  
“Don’t ask. How’s Lani doing?”  
“See for yourself,” Ani replied opening the door wider to allow him in.  
Entering the room Danny saw the girl sitting on the bed having something to eat and drink. The examinations were clearly over and she was a lot more relaxed.  
“Hey Lani! How’s the food?”  
“Danny! Its…” she stopped the moment she looked up at him, “What happened to you?”  
“It’s nothing, just a bit of a bruised arm, but my partner for the afternoon, Kai, wanted me to get it checked out,” Danny waved his left hand about to emphasise his point, “but I wanted to check on you first.”  
“I’m fine. Ani’s been lovely…” she trailed off, biting her bottom lip.  
“Hey, what’s wrong?” asked Danny perching on the side of her bed.  
“Are Mom and my step-father in a lot of trouble?”  
“Yes, they are. Kai arrested both of them and they’re now down at HPD being interviewed.”  
“What’s going to happen to me now?” tears filled her pale green eyes once more.  
“Have you got any other family?”  
“No, just Dad.”  
“I spoke to the Governor and he’s trying to get hold of your Dad’s boss to see what can be arranged. Once I get out of here we’ll sort out where you’re going to stay until your Dad can get home.”  
“Can’t I stay with you?”  
“Oh honey, I wish you could. I live with my work partner, Steve, at the moment. Remember I told you about him, he’s the SEAL. Then there’s my job,” he watched her face fall and decided to take a leap of faith. His partner was going to string him up when he found out but he couldn’t put this girl in the system after what she’d been through, “Look, Steve’s away this weekend, when I get out of here I’ll speak to the right people and see if you can at least stay with me over the weekend, OK? Then we’ll talk to some people on Monday.”  
A throat cleared from behind them, “You’re assuming a lot there Danny.”  
“Ah, Doctor Jensen, er, Henry, I was going to come and find you in a minute.”  
“I’m sure you were but the Governor called me to tell me you needed treating, so I came in search of you. Wouldn’t want you getting lost would we?”  
Lani giggled as Danny blushed and Doctor Jensen winked at her. The detective spotted Kai loitering in the hall way and gave him the evil eye.  
“Oh no, don’t you go blaming him. He gave you five minutes and I saw you sneak in here ten minutes ago! Now move it, I’ve got a room ready and waiting so I can examine you,” he directed his thumb over his shoulder.  
“Sorry Lani, looks like I’ve got to go.” Danny leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, “You should never mess with a Doctor, they might stick you with something sharp and painful!”   
“I heard that!”  
“Not you Henry!” he winked at Lani before waving and following Doctor Jensen out to another room.  
“Right, let’s see what you’ve done this time,” the tone was long suffering.  
Sitting up on the bed as instructed, Nurse Eve, who always seemed to be around whenever Doctor Jensen was, helped Danny off with the sling and his shirt. The doctor took one look at his arm, rolled his eyes heavenwards and spoke to Eve, “X-rays.”  
“Yes doctor,” she went to arrange it and was back just a few minutes later with a wheelchair.  
“I can walk.”  
“That’s as maybe but you’re going down in the wheelchair. Go!” Henry Jensen was normally a patient man, he had to be dealing with 5-0 all the time, but Danny was pushing it today.  
Before long Danny was back in his cubicle and there was a tap on the door, when he looked up Kamekona stood in the door way and behind him Danny could just make out two little legs.  
“Hey bruddah, I hears you got yerself into some trouble. I thought I’d bring the little one down to see you,” he stepped aside to allow Grace into the room.  
“Danno!”  
“Hey Monkey. I’m fine, I’ve just bumped my arm and Doctor Jensen needs to look at the x-rays to make sure I didn’t do too much damage.”  
She sat up on the bed next to him, “Does it hurt?”  
“Maybe a little, but I bet a hug from you would make it all better.”  
Grace was happy to oblige and carefully knelt on the bed so she could give her Dad a hug without knocking his injured arm.  
“Ah, hello Grace, Kamekona,” he smiled at both his patient’s visitors, “Could you wait outside a moment please.”  
Kamekona nodded and took Grace’s tiny hand in his huge one. The man dwarfed the little girl but he was incredibly gentle with her.  
“Well you’ve really done it this time!”  
Suddenly Danny felt like he was ten again and just come back from school with a black eye after getting in a fight with a couple of boys bigger than him, “What’d I do?”  
“Kai tells me you fell off the roof rescuing Lani earlier and banged your arm.”  
“I didn’t exactly fall off the roof,” he was using a Steve deflection technique, it didn’t work.  
“Hardly the point, Detective Williams!” Now Danny knew he was in trouble, it was like when his Mom called him Daniel, “You struck your arm while grabbing on to a fourteen year old girl sliding off a roof. The additional weight as your arm struck could have caused damage to your forearm! Had you mentioned the injury at the time, I could have checked it and might have been able to do something about the fractures in your radius and ulna. As it is, the further pressure that was put on the bone during an altercation with a suspect, don’t deny it, I have an eye witness account, has caused both bones to break and you’ll now need surgery!”  
“Surgery?”  
“Yes, plates and pins, both bones.”  
“I can’t!”  
“What do you mean you can’t?”  
“I’ve got nobody to look after Grace, Kamekona is a great guy but asking him to look after her for a few hours is a bit different to a night. Not to mention I told Lani she could spend the weekend with me.”  
“Try three nights.”  
“Three?”  
“Are you going to keep repeating everything I say?”  
“Only if I don’t like what you’re saying!”  
Doctor Jensen pinched the bridge of his nose, “You’ll have the surgery this evening and will need to be monitored for twenty four to forty eight hours, if the drains come out after twenty four, then you could potentially go home tomorrow night, if not it will be Sunday.”  
“Shit.”  
Danny hadn’t noticed Grace squeal, he was busy concentrating on the news that had just been delivered, or hear the door to the room open.  
“You can say that again!”  
The doctor and the detective both looked up and did a double take. Standing in the examination room was six foot one of Navy SEAL, bedecked in camouflage paint and clothing. The hands on the hips were an interesting touch.  
“Steve?” Danny had to make sure, because really, this was the first time he’d seen him in all out SEAL gear.  
“Yes Danno, I know the camouflage paint is good but even you can tell it’s me surely?”  
“I was just surprised to see you here! You’re supposed to be somewhere in the wilds, romping with your SEAL buddies in the mud!”  
“Firstly Danny, SEALs don’t romp! Secondly, I was out on an exercise with some SEALs, hence the camouflage gear, but my CO for the weekend got a call on the SAT phone from the Governor. Guess what that was about?”  
“I couldn’t possibly say.”  
“Imagine my surprise when my CO calls me over and tells me I need to get my ass to Queens Hospital to and I quote here Danny, ‘sort your wayward partner out before he discharges himself or something equally ridiculous’! I can’t leave you alone for a weekend? One weekend! What happened?”  
“Well there was this girl, she was sitting on the roof of Grace’s school…” and so the whole sorry story came out.   
Steve stood, mouth agape, shaking his head, “That’s the last time I go away when both Chin and Kono are away too!”  
“Hey, come on. I was off duty!”  
“And yet, once again, here we are! Well having been pulled off the exercise for a ‘family’ emergency, I can now take care of Grace and you can have the operation!”  
“Um..”  
“Oh god, what?” Steve recognised the sheepish look he was getting and was that… Oh my god, yes it was, Danny was using his very own version of puppy dog eyes!  
“I kind of promised Lani I would pull some strings and she could stay with me this weekend!”  
“You… What?!”  
“I didn’t know I was going to end up in hospital. Steve, she’s scared and alone. Her Dad’s a Marine. The Governor was trying to get hold of him and hadn’t been able to and I couldn’t see her go into foster care when she was already so traumatised. She trusts me and I wanted to be there for her…”  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take a breath! Jeeze! Danny, she doesn’t even know me. It’s you she trusts.”  
“Will you meet her at least, please?”  
Steve releases the biggest sigh he thinks he’s ever managed. Danny talks about the effect Steve has on his life expectancy, how about the effect Danny has on his?! “Fine, I’ll meet her.”  
“Er, can I make a suggestion gentleman?” Doctor Jensen had been quiet throughout this exchange, knowing it was best to let the two men sort it out. Whoever was in the bed refusing treatment always ended up getting it in the end anyway. Steve raised an eyebrow in question, “You might want to shower and change!”  
“Oh, yeah. Get him prepped for surgery and I’ll be back shortly.”  
“I’d like to see him get that crap off during a three minute army shower!”  
“I heard that Danny, its NAVY and I can thanks to years of practice!” Steve’s voice trailed away as he walked down the hall. Grace entered again with Kamekona, while Doctor Jensen finished making the arrangements for Danny’s surgery.  
As promised, Steve was back in no time and Danny asked the still loitering Kai to get Ani and Lani. Kamekona had left, leaving Grace with Steve. There was a tentative knock on the door a few minutes later and Ani came in with Lani gripping her hand.  
“Hey Lani,” Danny held out his left hand to her and she ran to the bed and grabbed it.  
“Are you OK?” she asked quietly.  
“Yeah, I’ve got a couple of broken bones, nothing serious. Doctor Jensen is going to fix me up, but I have to have an operation.”  
“Oh.”  
“There’s some people I’d like you to meet,” Danny waved Steve and Grace forward, “this is my daughter Grace, and remember I told you about my partner?”  
“The SEAL?” she asked softly.  
“That’s right; well this is him, Steve, meet Lani.”  
Steve saw why Danny had become so attached to this girl. Her eyes really were the windows to her soul, everything she was feeling flashed through them, uncertainty, fear of a stranger and curiosity too. He hunkered down, just as he does with Grace when he wants to speak to her directly, “Hi Lani, it’s nice to meet you.”  
Lani rocks back and forth but smiles shyly, “Hi.”  
“Did Danny tell you he’s been staying with me?”  
“Uh huh.”  
“Well he told me that he’d like you to stay with him while the Governor locates your Dad. He’s going to be in here for a day or two, but I’ll be home now, would you like to come and stay with me?”  
“It’s right on the beach,” Grace pipes up, finally taking the bull by the horns and overcoming her own reticence.  
“Really?”  
“Uh huh and Uncle Steve is great in the water and builds sandcastles with me too.”  
“Would you mind me staying Grace?” and those words almost took both Steve’s and Danny’s breath away. She’d been through so much and yet she was still conscious of what Grace might want.  
“It’d be good to have another girl to play with!” Grace states enthusiastically.  
“So how about it Lani?” Danny prompts.  
“Yes, please.”  
The sigh of relief is palpable and Steve knows he’ll have his work cut out with a nine and fourteen year old with no Danny, but the cousins will be back tonight so he’ll rope them in to helping.  
Doctor Jensen returns and wants to talk Danny and Steve through his procedure and recovery, so Ani and Kai take the girls back to Steve’s house, after it’s been agreed they can both come back to see Danny the next day. Steve will stay until Danny is out of surgery and settled in a room.  
The doctor launches in to his explanation, “The surgeon, who will not be me, will make two incisions in your arm, one will be on the side in line with your little finger and the other will be on the underside. The bones will be correctly aligned and then fixed with steel plates and screws. After the operation a dressing will be applied and your arm will be placed in a sling. The arm needs to be elevated to reduce the swelling. You’ll have a patient controlled analgesia pump to help with the pain. The wounds will have a drain and they will be removed anywhere between twenty four and forty eight hours after the operation. The stitches will come out ten to twelve days after. You can remove your sling to wash but need to wash around the dressings for the first ten days. You won’t be able to drive until you can move your arm properly, so that will be about six weeks after your operation…”  
“No change there then!” mumbles Danny.  
“You can return to light duty,” Doctor Jensen continues as if Danny never spoke, “after three to four weeks, anything further will probably be between two and three months but will be assessed as you heal.”  
“Wow, information overload,” Danny looks a little overwhelmed and not too happy about the time frame he’s been given.  
“It will all be repeated to you at various stages, but I thought you should know the recovery time before hand.”  
“But there’s no alternative?”  
“Nope and not getting it done isn’t an option; it would cause long term issues for you.”  
“OK,” Danny sighs in defeat.  
“I’m going to have three kids to look after,” gripes Steve, thinking about dealing with a post-operative Danny, Grace and now Lani too.  
“Ha! Now you know how I feel on a regular basis. Between you, Kono and Grace, you keep me on my toes!”  
“We’re going to take him down now, Steve you can wait in the OR waiting room.”  
“OK, thanks Doctor Jensen. Danny, I’ll be here when you wake up.”  
Danny nods, “Oh and Steve?”  
“Yeah Danno?”  
“Thanks for ditching the mud romping and taking in Lani.”  
“Only for you Danny, only for you.”


End file.
